VoIP vs. Traditional Phone Systems

For some businesses, especially those that have been around for many years, it can seem strange to consider changing phone technologies. If your business has used landlines for decades, why change now? 

The reason so many businesses are switching to internet phones, technically referred to as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phones, is because this new tech offers a lot of advantages. The cost savings, flexibility, and advanced features you can get with VoIP compared to landlines make it an appealing option for businesses that want to maintain a competitive edge. 

As a trusted provider of hosted VoIP for business, we are ready to answer all of your questions about the best business phone system for your organization. Please contact us today to discuss hosted VoIP from WOW! Business. 

How Does VoIP Work? 

VoIP uses the internet to make phone calls. Instead of using copper wires like landline phones do, VoIP uses your internet connection to make and receive calls – which gives you a lot of options you don’t have with landlines. You can add and remove lines, send voicemails to email, customize outbound messages and so much more. 

All of these customization options are much harder with traditional telephony. 

Why Are Businesses Switching from Landlines to VoIP? 

VoIP allows businesses to do things with their communication channels that are not possible with landlines. For example, if you run a business with seasonal fluctuations, you might want to add staff and phone lines for a seasonal surge, then remove them when the season is over. That’s time-consuming and expensive with landlines. But it’s much easier with VoIP. 

VoIP lets you customize your phone system and make changes much more quickly than you can with landlines. For instance, if you want some employees to work from home some days of the week, with VoIP you can temporarily change the way the phone system works to accommodate those changes. 

You can make it so that calls to and from those employees go through their smartphones while they are at home. To outsiders, it will appear that they are making and receiving calls from the office. Then, you can switch things back to normal when they are in the office. It’s all quite easy to do with VoIP. 

What Are the Advantages of VoIP? 

Some of the most significant advantages of hosted VoIP for business include: 

Cost Savings 

For businesses, the cost savings of using a VoIP business phone system can be considerable – especially if you use multiple phone lines. That’s because it takes so much less work to add and remove lines and make changes to a VoIP phone system. 

With landline phone systems for business, every new line requires running wires and paying the labor costs for technicians. But with VoIP, you can make many of those changes from the app that comes with your internet phone system. You may still need to install some outlets and buy compatible phones, but that’s much less expensive than running physical phone lines. 

Flexibility 

Most of the time with a traditional phone system, if you want to make changes you need the help of a technician. But with VoIP, you can make most changes on your own. That means you don’t have to pay for a tech to come out. 

VoIP is also much more flexible when you want to change how your phone system operates. Take call forwarding, for example. You can use your internet phone app to forward calls on the fly, such as if you are going to be out of the office for the day. With a few clicks, you can send calls straight to your personal phone and the callers won’t know anything has changed. 

Advanced Features 

The advanced features available with VoIP can be extremely helpful for businesses – allowing small businesses to do the kinds of things only larger companies used to be able to do. VoIP lets you use text messaging, video calling, call analytics, multi-party calling, virtual assistants, and more. 

There are so many advanced features that you may not even use them all. But when you need them, they can make it much easier for business personnel to communicate with each other and with customers. 

What Are the Disadvantages of Hosted VoIP for Businesses Compared to Landlines? 

While VoIP is the obvious choice for most businesses, there are some situations where landlines still offer benefits. These include: 

Power Outages 

One of the most significant benefits of landlines is that they don’t require power. In a power outage, your landline will work just fine. 

In contrast, VoIP phones will only operate in a power outage if they have a battery backup. This is why most come with a battery backup. However, once the battery goes out the phone won’t work. 

Emergency Services 

Having a working landline means you can contact emergency services even in the event of a power outage. 

Get Hosted VoIP for Business Today from WOW! Business 

We offer hosted VoIP for business, which means you can take full advantage of features like personalization, call forwarding, voicemail-to-email, and more. You can even use the WOW! Mobility App to place calls from your personal smartphone while displaying your business number as the outbound caller ID! 

Get in touch today and let us help you find a hosted VoIP or business phone plan that’s right for your business.